If you watched any Canadian sports in the past couple of decades, you know the name Rod Black. The man was everywhere on CTV, TSN and Sportsnet, often calling several games per week and sometimes more than one a day.
“Cut to Black” is his memoir, written with Jim Lang, with a foreword by legendary Blue Jay Joe Carter.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster for sending me an advanced reader copy. The book is due out on May 19, 2026.
A self-described workaholic, Rod worked his butt off to reach the heights that he did. Starting from humble beginnings in the Transcona neighbourhood of Winnipeg, he started as a DJ at a roller rink, then graduated to local sports before hitting the “big time” with CTV in Toronto. He made it by always saying “yes” and being open to any opportunity, small or large.
I really enjoyed this memoir. He writes candidly about his experiences, with warmth and love, and has high praise for his coworkers and the athletes he worked with. There might be a few choice words for network management people but in general Rod got along with everyone.
The first part of the book describes his life and career arc, and the latter part is more of a “who’s who” of athletes he met and many stories involving them. Joe Carter, Wayne Gretzky, Bob Probert, Kurt Browning… so many stories.
I’m surprised how he managed to maintain a family throughout this, with his wife Nancy and four children. Rod seemed like a go-go-go guy who was never home. I would have liked to have read a bit more about how he managed to be a father while being on the road or in the studio so much.
This was a really enjoyable book and an easy read.
You can go to Simon & Schuster’s page to preorder the book from Indigo, Amazon.ca, or a local bookstore like McNally Robinson.
Funny the baseball field in Transcona no longer bears his name, like Burton Cummings hard to get him to do even his named after tournament. Was changed to another local celebrity. Will have to read his book left here to supposedly become the head of sports at CTV and that never seemed to pan out for him, Forget the girl who he took with him from CKY sports is doing the PWHL announcing now.